Endlessly (A One Direction Love Story)

Anika has always been friends with Liam Payne. She forced him to play with her dolls when they were little, saw him in the front row at each of her dance recitals, forced him into the car for hours while she drove to auditions, and made him critique her every move at the studio. But two years ago, she sat backstage as her best friend sang his heart out for the second time. But this time, instead of coming home after two weeks, he was gone. For good. Liam and Ana still spend every waking hour together, but things are different. Niall and Ana are spending every waking hour together, and Liam's jealous. Will it be the classic story of the best friends who are meant to be, or are Liam and Ana destined to be... just friends?

15. Welcome Home

ANA

I paced back and forth, occasionally stopping to lean over the barrier at the terminal where the boys were going to arrive. They were meant to be here five minutes ago, and their plane had landed twelve minutes ago, This was like torture.

I was the only of the girlfriends here to pick up the boys, although Niall and I had of yet to confirm that we were dating to the press. Two pictures of us holding hands or hugging had been leeked, but there wasn't enough evidence. Charlie's contract said he wasn't allowed to give any information to outsiders, so even though he knew we were dating, he hadn't told anyone.

A rush of people started coming up the escalator, and I saw a mess of curly brown hair. My dancing past had given me expert jumping skills, and I put one of my feet on the railing and jumped over. Harry saw me and smiled, and turned around. I heard him say something and then, "Niall." I heard faintly.

Niall's blonde head appeared behind Harry. He looked up from the ground and when he saw me, his face broke into a smile. Niall started running forward, dropping his suitcase on the ground. I sprinted towards him, and I jumped and wrapped my legs around his waist, wrapping my arms around his neck so tightly I might've broken him if he had cared about breaking.

His hands were like clamps around my waist and he wouldn't let go. Niall spun me around in circles a few times, his head pressed into my neck. I buried my head in his shoulder and breathed in his smell. I knew the paps were taking picture after picture of us, but I didn't even care. I pulled away enough to press my lips to Niall's. He kissed me back hungrily, his hands so tight around me that I almost couldn't breathe, not that I cared. Niall spun me around a few more times.

"I missed you so fucking much." I whispered in his ear, stuffing my head in his shoulder. Niall laughed happily.

"Oh, don't even get me started." Niall breathed back. We held each other for a few more minutes before I let go of him long enough for him to grab his suitcase. Niall grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together with a vice-like grip, and we pushed through all of the paparazzi over to the other boys, who were getting their luggage. I gave each of the boys a kiss on the cheek, but Niall refused to let go of my hand the whole time. As soon as his suitcase came off of the trolly, Niall waved at the boys and was dragging me out the door.

"Let's go home." He said. I checked the time. It was nearly four in the evening already. The boys got in at eleven, but the fans and paparazzi were almost impossible to get past. Niall climbed into the passenger seat after loading up his suitcase and I got in the driver's side. Before I could start the car, Niall leaned over and kissed me long and hard, his hands tangled in my hair. I kissed him back, but then pulled away and started the car. "You're going to be dead asleep within five minutes of getting home." I promised. Sure enough, by the time we got to his building, Niall was half asleep. Danielle was nervously waiting in the lobby, and she jumped up to give us hugs when we walked in.

"Liam should be here soon, Niall just really wanted out of there." I said. Danielle nodded and sat back down. Charlie patted Niall on the back as I dragged him into the lift. Niall leaned on my shoulder, his eyes closed, the whole ride and it took him nearly five minutes to get down the hall to his flat. I sniggered as I shoved him onto his bed, pulled off his shoes, sunglasses, snapback, and coat before tucking him in.

"I'll pack for you." I promised, kissing his forehead.

"I love you." Niall managed to get out before he fell asleep. I smiled and kissed his forehead again.

"I love you too, hotshot." I sighed. I put all of his clothes through the wash and made some food for when he woke up long enough to eat. Then I folded and packed away all the clothes he'd need in Mullingar, along with his soap and shampoo. I had stayed in my pajamas all day... whatever, I DEFINITELY didn't look homeless. Yes I did. I ate half of the meat pie I'd made and put Niall's suitcase out in my car and set out clothes for him to wear tomorrow.

"Niall, wake up!" I shouted, pulling him out of his bed and dragging him to the table. Niall at half of his pie before falling asleep and smacking his face on his plate. I dragged him back to his bed and tucked him in. It was nearly ten. I sighed and set about ten alarms and climbed into bed next to him. Even though Niall wasn't holding me, he was close enough to me that I could fall asleep happily, knowing I had him back for real.

~~~~~~

"Up, up, up!" I said, jumping on the bed. Niall groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. I laughed and pulled all of the blankets off of him, beating him with his pillow.

"Niall, get up or I won't kiss you ever again." I said, crossing my arms. Niall sighed and rolled out of bed. He got to his feet and stuck out his arms, puckering his lips. I laughed and pecked his lips before taking his hands and throwing him in the bathroom with his clothes. I was already in some leggings, one of Niall's jumpers, and my UGGs, and my hair was brushed and my face was clean.

I set Niall's breakfast out on the table so we could eat and leave as soon as he was dressed. A minute passed and Niall came into the room, with his track pants and a bro tank on. His snapback and Raybans were on the table, so that we could pretend to hide from the paps. He dug into his eggs and bacon, and we were out the door in five minutes.

"I can't wait for you to meet my family." Niall said. "My mum's going to love you, and Greg will probably tease you, but that's just him being my older brother. Dad will probably not talk a lot, sorry. And then three days in I have an interview on the Late Show with the boys, up in Dublin, and you can come if you want to. Oh, the catch. I only have a twin bed. We can get a hotel, but I'd kind of like to stay at home if you don't mind cramped quarters." Niall ranted. I laughed and squeezed his hand.

"That sounds perfect, Niall. And I'd love to go to the interview. Just... Let me know ahead of time if you're going to confirm anything." I said. Niall smiled at me and nodded.

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked. I shrugged. It was kind of stupid not telling people we were dating, since it was pretty obvious, but I understood why. Niall and I sat in the terminal for an hour, keeping our heads down so that the paps couldn't get any good pictures, and then we finally boarded the plane. Niall and I were in first class, so we had seats right next to each other, alone.

"Now I can cuddle with you and kiss you all I want. Sort of." Niall said. I laughed and snuggled into his shoulder. He kissed me lightly and proceeded to fall dead asleep in under five minutes. I laughed and tried to sleep, but five hours later when the plane landed I was still wide awake.

"Niall, we're here." I said, shaking him awake. Niall yawned and stretched. We sat around spontaniously tickling each other until we could get off the plane, and then we waited an extra twenty minutes for our luggage. There was only a couple of people taking pictures, but Niall and I still avoided touching each other too much so that there wouldn't be too much to feed the fire. After all of our suitcases had come off the line, Niall pulled me outside and we took a cab. The drive took nearly an hour, but we finally pulled up in front of a house that was identical to all of the houses around it. There was a large field and a wall across from the house.

"My friends and I used to sit out on the wall and hang around." Niall said, pointing it out before he took in a deep breath and squeezed my hand. Then he turned the door know. "Just kidding, apparently it's locked." Niall said, blushing as he pulled out his key and unlocked the front door. "Mum, Ana and I are here!" Niall called. He took my suitcase and set them just inside the door. He lead me into the living room, and then a short round woman rushed down the stairs. Niall grinned and pulled her into a tight hug. "Hey, Mum! I've missed you." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek when she pulled away.

"And you must be Ana! I'm Maura, Niall's mum. You're just as beautiful as he's said. And I must say you photograph very well." She said, and I saw a magazine with a picture of Niall and I in it on the table. I blushed and she gave me a tight hug. "Our home is yours, and it's wonderful to finally meet you." Maura said. I hugged her and smiled down at her.

"No, really it's an honour that you're letting me stay here. I must say, you've got an amazing son." I smiled over her shoulder at Niall. She turned to look at him, a smile on her face too.

"I have, haven't I?" She said. There was the sound of footsteps and Niall hugged a tall guy that I assumed was his brother Greg.

"Hey, bro!" Niall said, grinning and slapping the boy on the back.

"Good to see ya, lad!" Greg said, patting his back as well. "And who's this pretty girl?" Greg asked, pulling me in for a hug. "This the famous Ana? He called a week ago and wouldn't stop talking about you." Greg said. I giggled and raised my eyebrows at Niall, who shrugged, smiling.

"I heard you're getting married! Congratulations!" I said. Greg smiled like it was the proudest moment of his life and shrugged.

"She's the greatest girl in the world, I'm so happy." He said. I smiled and elbowed Niall.

"Awwwww! That's adorable!" I said. Greg blushed and helped Maura make some tea. Niall slipped his hand into mine. He smiled down at me and kissed me gently.

"I know how he feels." Niall said, smiling. I stuck my tongue out a little bit and bit it, smiling. It was this stupid thing I've done since I was a little kid when I was really happy, and Niall thought it was the most adorable thing ever. He leaned down to kiss me again, but instead he started planting short tiny kisses all over my face. I laughed and shoved him off of me.

"Stahp!" I said in a stupid voice. Niall laughed and wrapped me in a tight hug. At first I wiggled around and tried to get away, but he was so warm and I loved the way he hugged, so I hugged him back.

"Bobby! Dinner!" Maura shouted up the stairs. I pushed Niall away from me and helped Maura serve dinner, and when I walked into the dining room I saw Niall sitting at the table, holding a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, with a huge stupid grin on his face.

"You nutter." I said, setting his plate down in front of him. Niall instantly tucked in a it was like he was a vaccuum cleaner. I snorted and set out a plate in front of Greg and then in the seat next to Niall, which I took. A large man came down the stairs and took the seat next to Maura.

"Who's this?" Bobby said, looking at me. Niall gave him a look.

"This is Ana, my girlfriend." He said. Bobby looked at me for a moment and so I took action and stuck my hand out across the table.

"It's brilliant to meet you, Mr. Horan." I said. He took my hand and shook it.

"Call me Bobby. I've heard a lot about you. It's clear that you make Niall very happy." He said, smiling at me. I smiled back and started eating my dinner. I nudged Niall's foot under the table, shooting him a smile. Niall kicked me back and smiled back at me.

"Thanks for dinner, it was amazing." I said while I helped Maura wash the dishes while Niall and Greg watched a football match.

"Don't mention it! You'll be eating a lot of my cooking for the week, so it's good you like it." Maura said. I smiled and dried off another plate.

"Never. Any girl that makes Niall this happy is going to make me happy. Except for Holly, I hated Holly." She said.

"Mum!" Niall shouted from the other room. I laughed and shook my head.

"Who's Holly?" I asked.

"His girlfriend when he was sixteen. He broke up with her when he got through to bootcamp on the XFactor, but I never liked her. She wore too much makeup and her clothes were ugly, and she wasn't very nice." Maura said, making a face. I laughed and saw Niall shoot his mum a look, but then he smiled at me.

"I don't wear ugly clothes, do I?" I asked Maura. She laughed and shook her head. I stiffled a yawn.

"Thanks, Mrs. H. I think I'm going off to bed, though. It's been a long day. At the same time, Niall yawned and stretched.

"I'm off as well. See you in the morning." Niall said, giving his mum a kiss on the cheek as head headed up the stairs behind me. I walked into Niall's small blue room and saw my suitcase in the corner.

"I'm changing over here, don't look." I said, waggling my finger at Niall. He chuckled and nodded his head sarcastically. He grabbed his trackies and went to the other corner of the room. I had my track pants on and was pulling my shirt on over my head when the lock clicked and two hands wrapped around my waist. Niall took my shirt out of my hands and dropped it on the floor. Then he turned me around and stared into my eyes for a few seconds before he kissed me. We kissed for a while and soon We were lying on his bed, kissing like we had before he left for tour.

Niall's hands were on my ribcage when he pulled back. I examined his face. "Do you want to stop?" I asked. Niall's eyes searched mine for a second, and then he shook his head.